Method of and apparatus for treating coal, ores, and other minerals for draining them of water.



No. 801,204. PATENTED OCT. 10 19051 F. BAUM.

METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR TREATING GOAL, ORES, AND OTHER MINERALS FORDRAINING THEM OF WATER.

APPLICATION YILED II B. 23. 1904.

3 SHEETS-SHEET l.

NO-801,204. PATENTED OCT. 10 1905. F. BAUM.

METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR TREATING GOAL, ORES, AND OTHER MINERALS FORDRAINING THEM OF WATER.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 23,1904- 3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

Qua- 1% 7 5 0 9 1 O 1 T G 0 D E T N E T A P 0 8 F. BAUM. METHOD OF ANDAPPARATUS FOR TREATING GOAL ORES, AND OTHER MINERALS FOR DRAINING T HEMOF WATER.

N P APPLIOATIO ILED ILB 23,1904 3 SHEETS SHEET 3.

ISA-1x4 0 O 0 Q .0000 0 0 0 o W262 asses TTNTTFD STATES PATENT @FFTGE.

FRITZ BAUM, OF HERNE, GERMANY.

METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR TREATING COAL, ORES, AND OTHER MINERALS FORDRAlNlNG THEM OF WATER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 10, 1905.

Application filed February 23, 1904. Serial No. 194,842.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRITZ BAUM, manufacturer, a subject of the King ofPrussia, German Emperor, residing at Herne, in the Kingdom of Prussia,German Empire, have invented a new and useful Method of and Apparatusfor Treating Goal, Ores, and other Minerals for Draining them of Water,of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to an improved method of and apparatus fortreating coal, ores, and the like that have been subjected to a washingprocess for draining off the water therefrom.

The invention is mainly based upon two known methods of treatmentnamely,the

conveying of the wet coal by means of a transporting-belt provided withbuckets for receiving the coal and the discharge of the coal coming fromthe settling apparatus into a practically quiescent large body of water,so that the coal sinks down comparatively slowly in the water, so as toform a loose deposit.

According to the present invention the transporting-belt is made totravel in an inclined position through the said quiescent body of water,so that the most deeply immersed portion thereof is in a position toreceive into its buckets the coal descending slowly through the water,the transportingbelt being then made to travel upward and out of thewater for conveying the charge of coal away while the water drains fromthe buckets. The proportion between the size and speed of the bucketsand .the volume of coal supplied is so determined that the buckets arepractically just filled with coal as they pass along, thus subjectingthe layer of coal to only a definite moderate degree of pressure by itsown weight and insuring a comparatively loose condition of the chargesin the buckets, and consequently facilitating the discharge of the watertherefrom as the buckets emerge from the water with thetransporting-belt. The water draining off from the buckets of thetransporting-belt falls back into the said body of water and isclarified therein, the tank containing such body being made of such awidth relatively to the width of the transporting-belt as to leave asubstantial surface of water on each side. The sludge descending fromthe coal discharged into the water collects at the bottom of the tank,whence it is withdrawn and again discharged in a uniformly-distributedmanner onto the body of coal that has been filled into the buckets. Atthe same time the clarified water passes off from the top of the tankand is conveyed back to the settling-tank of the washing apparatus.

On the accompanying drawings is shown, by way of example, a constructionof apparatus for carrying out the above-described method of operating.

Figure 1 shows a longitudinal section, and Fig. 2 a cross-section, ofthe same. Fig. 3 is an enlarged vertical sectional view of the con.veyer-chain, and Fig. 4 a plan view of a portion thereof.

The transporting-belt (6, with its buckets, is of known construction.The belt is formed of the links a, which are hinged together by means oftransverse rods (4 To these rods are connected the wire-netting bottompieces (0 To the links are secured the side pieces or cheeks a, whichare perforated over a portion of either surface, as at 5, to conform tothe meshes of the netting forming the bottom of the buckets. Theopposite side pieces are connected by transverse partitionwalls a, whichare separated from each other slightly,

as shown clearly in Fig. 3. These partitionwalls are perforated topermit water to escape through them and from the coal contained in thebuckets. The buckets are formed by two side cheeks that overlap the endsof the side cheeks of the contiguous buckets, and a transverse partitionis provided in the middle of the side cheeks, so that a closedreceptacle is constituted by the contiguous ends of two buckets betweenthe two transverse partitions, while when the buckets separate inpassing round the guide-roller, as shown at the lefthand end of Fig. 1,they are constituted by two side cheeks open at the ends with thepartition in the middle. The side checks, as also the bottom surface towhich they are fixed, are perforated for allowing the free escape of thewater from the charge of coal when the buckets emerge from the tank 6.The transporting-belt is in an inclined position as it passes into andout of the tank, so that the left-hand end of its upper part is immersedbelow the level of the Water, being supported by rollers f, carried bythe sides of the tank. The bottom of the latter is formed by a series offunnel-shaped pockets (Z. A lateral overflow is provided at e.discharging into a trough q, for maintaining the water always at thesame level. Below the upper part of the transporting-belt an angularshield g is provided in the tan k, by means of which the sludgedescending from the buckets is deflected to either side, so as not todeposit upon the lower part of the belt, being made to fall along theinclined sides of the pockets (Z, to the bottom thereof. The small coalpasses together with the washing-water from the settling-tanks of thewashing-machine along the chute c, whence it falls into the buckets ofthe belt a. By the action of gravity the coarser particles of coal formthe bottom layer in the buckets, the successive layers being of gradually-increasing fineness, and. owing to this peculiar stratification,combined with the looseness with which the layers are formed, the waterdrains off from the charge with great rapidity as soon as the bucketsemerge from the water in the tank, such draining being also facilitatedby the comparatively small depth of the layers.

As before stated, the tank 5 is made of such a width as to afford asufficiently large surface of water to constitute in itself aclarifying-sump. The greater part of the finest coal separates alreadyon the entrance of the mixed mass into the water in the buckets, andduring the descent through the water the other degrees of finenessseparate from each other, forming successive layers, as above described.The finest particles and sludge that do not pass into the bucketscollect at the bottom of the pockets J, and by the greater head of waterin the tank they are forced through a pipe 7. into a troughl at the sidearranged at a lower level, whence the water charged with these lineparticles is led by a pipe on to a smallcentrifugal pump 1/, by which itis raised through a pipe 0 and discharged onto the sieve or perforatedbottom 3) of the supply-chute 0, so that in falling through the sievethe said finest particles and sludge are distributed as a top layer overthe charges in the buckets.

The clarified water escaping through the overflow into the trough r iswithdrawn thence by a large centrifugal pump r and conveyed through apipe a back into the settlingtanks of the washing-machine.

Owing to the peculiar method of charging the buckets of they belt withthe small coal while under water, the clarifying of the water in thetank is so perfect and rapid and the deposit of the line coal and sludgeso uniform that the amount of clarifyirig-surface for the washing-waterin the tank can be considerably less than heretofore, and with thedescribed additional width of the tank the employment of specialclarifying-sumps is rendered unnecessary. The first cost of theinstallation is therefore reduced, the supervision is sim plified, andthe height to which the water has to be pumped is reduced, resulting ina correspondingreduction of the working expenses.

I llavingthus described the nature of my said invention and the bestmeans I know of carrying thesame into practical effect, I claim 1.Method of treating washed coal and the eoraoa like for draining thewater therefrom, which consists in charging the washed coal into thedraining-buckets of a transporting-belt by causing it to descend througha quiescent body of water in which the said buckets are immersed at onepoint of their travel whereby the coal is deposited loosely in thebuckets so as to facilitate subsequent drainage, the washing-wateraccompanying the coal being at the same time clarified in the said bodyof water by the settlement of the sludge therefrom, and the depositedsludge being conveyed from the body of water into the buckets afterthese have received their charge of coal while the clarified water isconveyed back to the wasl ing apparatus, substantially as described.

2. In apparatus for treating washed coal and the like for draining thewater therefrom, a tank adapted to contain a quiescent body of watermaintained at a constant level by an overflow, a transporting-beltcarrying draining-buckets immersed in said body of water at one point oftheir travel, means for charging the washed coal into said buckets whilethey are immersed in said body of Water, and an. angular shield arrangedbelow the upper part of the transporting-belt, adapted to defleet thesludge descending from the coal-supply toward the sides of the tank,substantially as described.

3. An apparatus for treating washed coal comprising a tank adapted tocontain a quiescent body of water of sufficient volume to make the tankserve as a sump for clarify ing the returning wash-water, atransportingbelt carrying draining-buckets and passing through the tankbelow the water-level for a portion of its travel, means above thewaterlevel for charging coal into saidtank, said charging meansterminating above the water whereby the coal will pass through the waterto the charging-buckets, and the heavier pieces of coal will arrangethemselves in the bottom of the buckets with the lighter pieces on topof said heavier pieces, means to permit an overflow from said tank,means for collecting the sludge at the bottom of said tank, and means topermit the sludge to be forced from the tank by the pressure of thewater contained therein.

4:. In apparatus for treating washed coal and the like for draining thewater therefrom, a tank adapted to contain a quiescent body of water ofsufiicient volume to make the tank erve as a sump for clarifying theentering wash water, a transporting belt carrying draining-buckets,passing through the tank below the water-level for a portion of itstravel, means for charging the washed coal through the Water to thebuckets, and means for withdrawing the deposited sludge from the bottomof the tank and conveying it onto the top of the charges of coal in thebuckets, substantially as described.

5. In apparatus for treating washed coal and the like for draining offthe water therefrom, a tank adapted to contain a quiescent body of watermaintained at a constant level by an overflow, funnel-shaped pockets atthe bottom of said tank, a trough at the side of said tank situatedbelow the Water-level thereof and communicating by pipes with the bottomof said pocket-s so that the Water is forced from the latter into thetrough by the head of Water in the tank,a transporting-belt carryingdraining-buckets immersed in said body of Water at one point of theirtravel, means for charging the washed coal into said buckets while theyare immersed in said body of Water, and

means for conveying the Water and sludge that 5 In Witness whereof Ihave hereunto set my 2 hand in presence of two witnesses.

FRITZ BAUM.

Witnesses WILLIAM ESSENWEIN, PETER LIEBER.

